Valve for air tank

ABSTRACT

A valve, possibly for use in a paintball marker, has a longer threaded portion that insures a canister that engages the valve must undergo many twists to become unscrewed from the valve. Alternatively, the valve has an elongated threaded portion with gas bleed channels that extend along a substantial portion of the threading. Still alternatively, the valve may use visual markings along the length of the threaded portion to indicate to a user that the canister is being unscrewed.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60/604,762, filed Aug. 26, 2004, a Continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/001,716 filed Dec. 2, 2004, and aContinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/485,067 filed Jul.12, 2006 which are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth.

BACKGROUND

In the sport of paintball, players use a paintball gun or “marker,” tofire ammunition (paintballs) that bursts upon impact. To generate theforce necessary to burst the paintballs on impact, paintball markersdrive the paintballs using compressed gas, usually Carbon Dioxide (CO2)or a Nitrogen/High Pressure Air (N2/HPA) mixture These gases are storedin compressed gas tanks, also referred to collectively as gas tanks, airtanks, air canisters, or canisters.

The tank comprises, generally, a canister, and a valve closing off anopen end of the canister. One end of the valve is designed to securelyscrew into the canister, usually by threaded engagement. Another end ofthe valve is threaded for engagement with a portion of, for example, apaintball marker, or a paintball marker accessory that is designed toreceive the tank.

FIG. 1 shows standard valve 10 used in threaded engagement with acanister (not shown), a burst disk assembly 15 that engages the valvethrough the hole 15 a (shown in phantom), and a threaded portion 16 forengaging an air tank. Internally, the valve 10 comprises a depressor pin20, a depressor pin spring 22, and a retainer plug 24. The threadedportion 16, may be provided with a vent hole 17 that releases pressurebuilt up inside the valve to atmosphere.

There are drawbacks of these prior art canister and valve combinations,especially as the canister begins unscrewing from the valve. Duringintentional or unintentional unscrewing, pressure from the compressedgas inside the canister presses against the valve and can unexpectedlyseparate the canister and valve as the engaged threads between thecanister and valve decrease. The only known safety mechanism for thevalve and canister interface is directed at pressure relief from insidethe valve and is shown in prior art FIG. 1.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention seeks to overcome the pressure release problem asthe canister is unscrewed from the valve. To solve this problem, theinvention shows at least six embodiments. The first shows a valve with alonger threaded portion that insures the canister must undergo manytwists to become unscrewed from the valve. The second is a valve with anelongated threaded portion having gas bleed channels that extend along asubstantial portion of the threading. The third is a standard threadedportion valve with the gas bleed channels. The fourth is a series ofchannels that extend along the threaded portion for short spans (usablewith the standard or elongated threaded portion). The fifth uses visualmarkings along the length of the threaded portion to indicate to a userthat the canister is being unscrewed. The sixth uses a canister with gasbleed channels formed on a threaded portion thereof. Several othervariant embodiments of these three major embodiments are discussedbelow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a standard CO2 valve of the prior art.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of an elongated valve according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of an elongated valve according to a secondembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of an elongated valve according to thesecond embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an elongated valve according to thesecond embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the elongated valve according to the secondembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of elongated valve according to the secondembodiment of the present invention taken along line 7-7 in FIG. 6.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show side views of a third alternate embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 10 shows an isometric view of a fourth alternate embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 11 shows an isometric view of a fifth alternate embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 12 shows an isometric view of a sixth embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As shown in FIGS. 2-11, a valve 30 generally comprises a threadedpropellant interface portion 32, a valve body 34, a threaded portion 46,146, 246, and an axial hole 45 therethrough that runs between theinterface portion 32 and the threaded portion 46. A unified burst diskassembly 36 may also be provided, which screws into a threaded hole inthe value 30. Internally, the valve 30 comprises a depressor pin 40, adepressor pin spring 42, and a retainer plug 44.

A valve 30 according to a first embodiment of the present inventionfurther comprises an elongated threaded portion 46 comprising aplurality of threads for securely engaging an air tank canister. Thestandard size valve 10 threaded portion 46 is preferably around ¾ incheslong, as opposed to the longer threaded portion 46 in FIGS. 2-7, whichis preferably 1.5 inches long. The elongated male threaded portion 46engages the female threaded canister 50 over a longer distance, whichmeans that removing the canister 50 takes longer. This longer durationfor unscrewing the canister 50 minimizes the chance of fully removingthe canister by accident. Even after a significant number of revolutions(turns) of a canister 50 with respect to the valve 30, there will stillbe a number of engaged threads securing the valve 30 to the canister 50.

FIGS. 3-7 show a second embodiment of the invention used with the valvewith the longer threaded portion. The valve 30 in FIGS. 3-7 has a gasbleed channel 48 that extend to a terminal end 46a of the threadedportion 46 that provides an audible signal when the valve begins tounscrew from the canister 50. This audible signal is from the compressedgas escaping from the canister 50 through the channel 48. Further, thisgas release, if not corrected quickly (by tightening the canister to thevalve), will drain the compressed gas from the canister, and minimizethe chance of unscrewing the canister 50 under pressure.

The valve 30 comprises at least one gas bleed channel 48 along at leasta portion of the length of the threaded portion 46. The gas bleedchannel 48 formed along a portion of the length of the elongatedthreaded portion 46, indented below the upper edge 56 of the threads 47.The gas bleed channel 48 may narrower adjacent the valve body 34, asshown. Preferably at least two gas bleed slots are formed on oppositesides of the threaded portion 46, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, although aplurality of gas bleed channel 48 may be provided. With multiplechannels 48, an even number of gas bleed channels 48 are formed in pairson opposite sides of the threaded portion 46. This opposed channelposition allows compressed air to escape from the canister 25 evenlyinstead of only along one side of the threaded portion 46, which mightcock the canister 50 or release a lot of compressed gas through a singlesmall channel 48 and separate the canister 50 from the valve 30.

In use, should the valve 30 begin to separate from an air tank canister50 the upper portion of the gas bleed channel 48 will initially beexposed. As shown in FIG. 7, the channel 48 provides an escape forcompressed gas in the canister 50 to follow the path indicated by thearrows. Escaping compressed gas should be audible and provide a warningthat the valve 30 has begun to separate from the canister 50. In theevent that the marker user does not hear the escaping gas, the releasinggas will eventually depressurize the canister 50, and minimize thechance of the canister 50 dislodging from the valve 30 under pressure.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a third embodiment using a standard size valve 130with the bleed channel 148, as opposed to the valve 30 with the longerthreaded portion 46 shown in FIGS. 2-7. The advantage of the standardsize valve 130 used with the gas bleed channel 148 is that it fitswithin all standard size valve accessories, including packaging,canisters, and other products that depend on valve size.

FIG. 10 shows a fourth embodiment of the invention in which the valvehas one or preferably several channels 248 located at differentlocations along the threaded portion 46. These channels 248 serve thesame purpose as the slots 48, 148, in that they release air from thecanister 50. The channels 248 are preferably located at differentpositions around the circumference and along the length (distance fromthe terminal end 149 of the threaded portion 146) of the threadedportion 46, 146, and optimally located so that pairs of the channels 248are positioned on opposite sides of the threaded portion 146. Thechannels 248 are preferably located so that at least one pair ofchannels 248 allows air to pass through from the canister through achannel 248 to the atmosphere at each position of the canister 50 as itis unscrewed. The advantage of the channels 248 is that they interruptthe threaded portion 46, 146 less than the longer channels 48, 148.Further, multiple channels 248 will not likely all become blocked andrendered useless at once, whereas, if the channel 48, 148 becomesblocked, it is ineffective for releasing the compressed gas.

In the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 11, the elongated threaded portion46 may be marked with a visible indicator 60. For example, the threadedportion 46 may be colored in contrast to the valve body and/or canister,such that once a user sees the color “red”, by way of example, it is avisible indicator that the valve is coming away from the canister. Inaddition, should a color indicator be employed, the appearance of acontrasting color when the threads 18 become visible will provide avisual indicator as well. The use of different color bands 60, 62 alongthe threaded portion 46 could indicate the canister is becoming screwed,that is, when slightly unscrewed, the user sees yellow threads, furtherunscrewing shows orange threads, and the final threads engaging thecanister 50 could be red. These indicators could all be color-coded toindicate the amount that the canister has been unscrewed, as discussedabove. Further, although the channel 48 is shown as having the indicator60 thereon, the indicator 60 could be marked on the threads 47themselves, or on both the threads 47 and the channel 48.

The sixth embodiment shown in FIG. 11 shows a canister 50 with channels348 formed therein. This canister 50 would engage a standard orelongated threaded portion of a valve, and give an audible signal andrelease gas during unscrewing of the canister.

The valve can be made of metal, plastic, ceramic or other suitablematerials. Furthermore, the valve can be manufactured by casting,machining, injection molding, etc. The gas bleed slot can be formedduring the casting or molding step as part of the mold. Alternatively,the gas bleed slot can be formed after casting by machining.

The present invention is not limited to particular canisters, and thevalve described herein may be used with any canister, such as those usedin connection with fire extinguishers, propellant gas tanks, and thelike. It is understood that the present invention is not limited to theparticular embodiments shown and described herein, but that variouschanges and modifications may be made without departing from the scopeand spirit of the invention.

1. A valve for a paintball marker comprising: a propellant interfaceportion; and a threaded portion for threadedly engaging a canister ofcompressed gas and in communication with the propellant interfaceportion through an axial hole extending through the threaded portion andpropellant interface.
 2. The valve of claim 1 wherein the threadedportion is between ¾ and 2.0 inches long.
 3. The valve of claim 1wherein the threaded portion comprises at least one channel extendingthrough threads in the threaded portion.
 4. The valve of claim 3 whereinthe number of channels is an even number, and the paired channels arelocated parallel to an axis of the axial hole and equidistant from eachother on opposed portions of a circumference defined by the threadedportion.
 5. The valve of claim 4 wherein the channels extend for morethan half the length of the threaded portion.
 6. The valve of claim 4wherein the number of channels is an even number of four or more, andeach pair of opposed channels is located at a different distance from aterminal end of the threaded portion as another pair of channels.
 7. Avalve safety device for compressed gas storage devices, comprising: avalve stem having a first threaded section and a non-threaded section;wherein the first threaded section is configured to engage internalthreads of a compressed gas storage device during insertion of the valvestem into the compressed gas storage device, and wherein the firstthreaded section is further configured to be arranged within an interiorportion of the compressed gas storage device following insertion; andone or more vents arranged along the non-threaded section to permitrelease of compressed gas from the compressed gas storage device beforethe first threaded section can be removed from the compressed gasstorage device.
 8. A valve safety device, comprising: a valve stem; afirst threaded section arranged on one end of the valve stem; a secondthreaded section arranged on an opposite end of the valve stem; and anon-threaded section arranged between the first threaded section and thesecond threaded section, wherein the non-threaded section is configuredto extend into an internal area of a compressed gas storage device whenthe valve stem is fitted in the compressed gas storage device.
 9. Avalve safety stem for a compressed gas storage device, said valve safetystem comprising: a first threaded section arranged on the valve stem andconfigured to engage internal threads of a compressed gas storage deviceduring insertion into the compressed gas storage device; and one or morevents arranged on the valve stem to vent compressed gas from within thecompressed gas storage device before the first threaded section iscompletely removed from the compressed gas storage device.